by Jeremy Bai
“We’ve got company,” Sunan said.
As he studied the group, one of their number looked up, and their eyes met. It was a young woman, quite beautiful, with eyes that, even at this distance, seemed sharp enough to pierce into the soul and stab at the heart.
As soon as she spotted Sunan, her eyes narrowed, and she turned to speak to a tall, muscular man who rode at her side. He looked over at Sunan and Sun Mai’s group, and then a moment later, shouted out a command. The entire group turned their horses and sent them galloping to the east.
“Dammit!” growled Sunan. “Come on, men. Don’t let this trip be a waste. Let’s get to that crater!”
Chapter 24: Don’t Do That
The geography on Sunan’s side of the valley favored his group by just a bit. There were fewer trees, and the land was more stable, making it much easier for them to gallop at top speed toward the area where the cliff turned into more of a slope.
They flew like the wind.
For a brief moment, Sunan thought back to his life in the village, before everything changed. Although horses were rare in the village and he had never actually ridden one, donkeys were common, and as a child he had always fancied himself somewhat of an expert. He had even raced donkeys with his friends in the village and had won more often than not.
After he and Sun Mai took over Iron Awl Hu’s organization, he had had access to real horses, and as a result he had quickly become familiar with how to ride them. In fact, the horse he was currently riding was one of the finest in the stables.
The wind buffeted his face, and his unbound hair was whipping around his head as he galloped along. The pounding of his horse’s hooves into the turf vibrated through his body, and when he glanced to the right and saw the valley so far down below, he almost felt like he was an eagle.
He couldn’t hold back from letting out a long whoop.
After about a minute of riding, the distance to the sloping downward hill had been halved. He looked across at the other side of the valley and could just barely make out a flicker of motion—it was the other group riding their horses through the dense forest opposite. They had not made much progress. Obviously Sunan and his people would reach the valley floor first.
Sure enough, after another minute or two of riding, they were able to descend into the valley itself.
It only took a few seconds of riding before Sunan reached the area completely devoid of trees and vegetation. He tapped his heels against his horse’s side, sending it into the fastest run possible. The valley whizzed by as he drew closer and closer to the crater.
He was only about halfway there when something flickered in his peripheral vision. He turned his head in shock to find that the young woman he had seen before was rapidly catching up to him.
She was riding on the other side of the furrow that cut the valley in half. It was a strange sight to see a young woman riding a horse, but what was more surprising to Sunan was the type of horse she was riding. Even he recognized the distinctive shape of the ears that identified it.
That’s a Harqa steed from the Kushen Basin! The fastest horses in the world! Who is this girl?
Sunan tried to push his horse faster, to little effect. He caught sight of the crater up ahead, and then the young woman passed him as her Harqa steed exploded with a burst of greater speed.
“Dammit!” Beaten by a girl in a race!
The young woman reached the crater at least fifteen seconds before Sunan. Most shocking of all was that instead of waiting until her horse came to a stop, she actually leapt out of the saddle, somersaulting through the air to land nimbly at the edge of the crater.
What was that? Can she use qi?
Despite his level of ability and power with qi and his experience fighting, Sunan was by no means confident enough to leap off of a galloping horse. He quickly reined his horse in, then jumped out of the saddle and hurried over to the cater.
As he reached the lip of the crater, the young woman was cautiously approaching its very center. There, Sunan could see something buried in the ash and soil, something that glittered with faint silver light.
Damnation! If she lays hands on that, this whole trip will have been for nothing!
Hurrying down into the crater, he yelled, “Hey! That’s dangerous. Don’t touch it!”
The young woman looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. “Dangerous? And how do you know that?” Looking away, she took another step forward until she was virtually on top of the object.
“My astrologer said so!” Sunan replied. “That fallen star belongs to me!”
The young woman snorted, edging closer to the object. After a moment, she pulled a knife out of her sleeve and prodded it.
Knives in her sleeves? Sunan hurried over, angling a bit to the right so that he could get closer, while still keeping a safe distance from the young woman.
Now that he was up close, he could see that the object itself, which was mostly buried in the ash, was a chunk of metal. Or rock. Or maybe a mixture of both. It was mostly black and rough, although there were flecks of silver that glowed with odd light.
This is what stars look like? He wondered if it was hot.
The young woman looked up at him, her eyes flashing. “I’m afraid you don’t know what you’re talking about. Not only is this thing not dangerous, it actually belongs to me.”
Sunan clenched his jaw.
The sound of galloping horses could be heard as everyone else arrived. Sun Mai hurried down into the crater, followed close behind by the tall, muscular young man Sunan had noticed earlier.
“Back away from Chieftainess Bao!” the burly man said, fingering a bronze axe strapped to his waist.
“Tell your Chieftainess Bao to back away from Sect Leader Sunan!” Sun Mai retorted, taking a threatening step forward.
Bao rose to her feet. “Calm yourself, Mao Yun.”
“That’s right, Mao Yun!” Sun Mai continued. “Haven’t you read The Sayings of Kong Zhi? ‘The wise man knows when to back down.’ This is Sect Leader Sunan, champion of Daolu, slayer of Iron Awl Hu! He slaughtered the Killer of Daolu with a single punch, so he could take someone like you down as easy as butchering a sleeping pig!”
Mao Yun glared at Sun Mai. “I’ve never heard of any Iron Awl Hu, but let me tell you this, Chieftainess Bao single-handedly crushed one of the Demon Emperor’s ogres. So what do you have to say to that?”
Sun Mai seemed strangely at a loss for words. Before he could recover, Sunan quickly jumped back into the conversation. “Chieftainess Bao, please forgive Sun Mai’s impulsiveness.” He clasped his hands and bowed. “I am Sunan of Daolu. Might I ask why you claim right to this fallen star?”
Bao’s eyes narrowed for a moment, but she also clasped her hands respectfully. “Greetings, Sect Leader Sunan, I am Bao of the Pure Phoenix Sect. This pure-silver star fell on the first day of the first cycle of the eighth lunar month, which is the Phoenix month. How could such an object not belong to the Pure Phoenix Sect? Sect Leader Sunan, I have heard of your illustrious name, and although my lieutenant Mao Yun has not heard of Iron Awl Hu, I have.
“I also know that you are the sect leader of the Golden Dragon Sect. Consider this, Sect Leader: If a golden star fell to the ground on the first day of the first cycle of the first lunar month, the Dragon month, I would never claim that such an object belonged to my Pure Phoenix Sect. Therefore, how can you claim that this pure-silver star belongs to your Golden Dragon Sect? It even fell into our territory.”
Sunan glanced over at Sun Mai and was dismayed to find that his jaw had dropped and his eyes were as wide as saucers.
Sunan cleared his throat, mind racing as he tried to come up with some sort of response.
“As I thought,” Bao continued. “Even you realize that this pure-silver star must be a gift sent to me by the Enlightened Goddess. If you attempted to steal it from me, you would in fact be interfering with the will of Xian Nu Shen. Is that something you would dare to do?”
At long last, Sun Mai seemed to recover his composure. “Hold on a moment, Chieftainess Bao. I’ll have you know that the Golden Dragon Sect doesn’t even believe in the Enlightened Goddess!”
Mao Yun snorted. “Hmph! A bunch of blasphemers! As to be expected from weaklings like yourselves.”
Sun Mai slowly turned to look at Mao Yun. “I’ll have you know that neither Sect Leader Sunan nor myself are weaklings. You might not be aware, but your Chieftainess Bao has no doubt heard that we personally killed one of the Lions of Peace. Yes, you heard me well. Killed him. With our bare hands. Don’t think I didn’t notice your clever phrasing earlier. You didn’t say that Chieftainess Bao ‘killed’ an ogre. You said she ‘crushed’ an ogre. A clever attempt on your part to play with words. How did she crush him? In a beauty contest? Unlike you prevaricators, we seek the truth and pursue the actual!”
“Are you calling me a liar?” bellowed Mao Yun, clenching his hands into fists.
Sun Mai tilted his chin up. “I’m merely pointing out the flaws in the fanciful story you have woven to make your chieftainess sound more intimidating than she really is.”
“Say one more word, you puny little bookworm, and I’ll make you regret it!”
“Mao Yun—” Bao said, reaching out toward Mao Yun.
“Sun Mai—” Sunan said, reaching out toward Sun Mai.
Sun Mai interrupted them both. “Listen up, you buffoon! I’ll say anything I want, any time I want. And there’s nothing a lying goon like yourself can do to stop me!”
Mao Yun’s eyes blazed with fire, and he sent his palm flying out toward Sun Mai.
What was most shocking of all was that Mao Yun was a full three meters away from Sun Mai when he struck. As he extended his palm with lightning speed, the illusory image of a hand sprang out and shot through the air toward Sun Mai.
Dammit, they can use qi! thought Sunan.
Sun Mai’s eyes widened, and yet he didn’t hesitate for even a moment.
“Dance of the Bixie!” Grinning, he flew off to the side at incredible speed, completely avoiding the flying hand, which faded away without hitting anything. Dance of the Bixie was the new name Sunan had convinced him to use for the same move he had once called Dance of Kong Zhi. Since bixies were mythological winged lions, they seemed much more appropriate inspiration for the name of a technique than Kong Zhi.
Mao Yun’s jaw dropped when he saw Sun Mai flit away from his attack. Before he could make another move, Sun Mai’s index and middle finger slashed through the air.
“Sword of the Scholar!”
The shining image of a sword appeared, which blurred through the air toward the shocked Mao Yun. Mao Yun instinctively threw his hands up to defend himself, but it did little good. Sun Mai’s Sword of the Scholar slashed into Mao Yun, opening up gashes on his forearms and right shoulder, and sending him staggering back.
Mao Yun ground to a halt a few paces back, panting, blood dripping down his arms.
It was at this point that Bao took a step forward. At some point, another knife had appeared in her other hand.
Jaw clenched, eyes blazing, she said, “You really shouldn’t have done that.”
Chapter 25: Protect Daolu
The fire burning in Bao’s eyes seemed to contain a rage that immediately left Sunan unsettled. It was at this same moment that it also dawned on him that he wasn’t armed. He had a saber strapped to his horse several meters away, but Bao was much closer than that.
Normally a strong young man wouldn’t have anything to fear from a young woman much shorter and lighter than him. But Sunan was no fool.
He knew how much of a difference qi could make when it came to fighting. Some of the disciples of the Golden Dragon Sect were women, and over the months of training, it had become apparent to everyone that qi was like a great equalizer. Generally speaking, size and weight didn’t matter once you mastered the flow and manipulation of that internal energy.
Furthermore, over the past months, Sunan had developed a fondness for the saber and other saber-type weapons. It was true that he and Sun Mai had taken down Iron Awl Hu without a single weapon in hand. However, that didn’t make him feel any less nervous going up against an opponent with two knives.
Besides, he had no idea what her level might be. Considering the ease with which she had flipped off the horse earlier, she might have achieved four breakthroughs, the same as him. Or even more.
Clenching his teeth, Sunan took a step back and barked, “Sun Mai, back down!”
Sun Mai landed nimbly on the balls of his feet, a frown on his face as he held his two fingers out in front of him.
Sunan looked at Bao. “Chieftainess Bao, I’m afraid things are escalating too quickly. Let’s all just calm down for a moment.”
Bao spit on the ground off to the side, then snorted coldly. “I’ll back down when you people get on your horses and ride back to Daolu. This is my territory, and it’s my fallen star.”
Sunan frowned. “Now hold on a moment, I think—”
“No discussions,” Bao interrupted. “I’ll give you to the count of five to get back on your horses and leave. One.”
Sunan’s face darkened. “Listen, girl, I’m not just going to leave after coming all the way here. At least we can—”
“Two.”
Anger flared in Sunan’s eyes as he recalled the events leading up to the fight with Iron Awl Hu. “You know, I really don’t like it when people count to five on me.”
“Three.”
“Fine.” His hands twisted into the claws of dragons. “If you really want to do it the hard way, then so be it. Just don’t—”
“Four.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“FIVE!” As the words left her mouth, Bao’s left hand flashed through the air, and one of her knives shot toward Sunan.
To a spectator, the knife might have looked to be moving with blinding speed, but to Sunan, that wasn’t the case. The first time he had faced a sharp metal object flying toward him was when he fought Iron Awl Hu, and even then he had managed to counter the attack. Since then, he had perfected and practiced that very same technique.
Based on the trajectory of the knife Bao had thrown at him, he could tell that she most likely hadn’t intended it to be a deadly attack. Either she had intentionally aimed the knife too far to the left to really hit him, or she was a horrifically bad shot. Regardless, countering the move was a simple thing.
“Dragon Cleaves the Clouds!” he roared, kicking out with his foot and flipping backward. A blast of air slammed into Bao’s knife, sending it flying off into the distance. Sunan landed on his feet and clenched his hands back into dragon claws.
Already, fighting had broken out around them. Sun Mai was fighting Mao Yun, who was in a berserker rage after having been slashed by Sun Mai’s Sword of the Scholar. The way he swung his axe made him seem like a god descended from the skies, and yet Sun Mai danced away from his blows with apparent ease. However, now that Mao Yun had already been struck once by Sun Mai, he was on the lookout, and he was able to counter the move when it was used again.
Hoarse shouts, muffled curses, and the clash of weaponry came from the other members of both groups, echoing through the valley. Clearly Bao’s followers also had some training when it came to qi fighting.
However, Sunan had no time to observe or analyze any of that. As soon as he landed, he looked up at Bao, preparing to unleash another technique. But just as he was about to unleash Rebuke of the Dragon, expecting to find his opponent glaring at him angrily like she had been moments before, he was surprised to find her staring at him with a quizzical expression on her face.
“What did you just say?” she asked.
“Huh?”
“You just yelled something. What was it?”
“Um… Dragon Cleaves the Clouds?”
“Yes, that was it. Dragon Cleaves the Clouds? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Uh, that’s the name of the move. The technique I ju
st used.”
“You name your moves? Your man Sun Mai did the same thing, didn’t he?”
“You don’t name your moves? But… doesn’t everybody do that?”
Bao chuckled. “You name your moves? What are you, a child?”
Sunan’s lips twisted into a snarl. “We’ll see who’s the child! Rebuke of the Dragon!”
Two illusory dragons snaked toward Bao, moving with indescribable speed. Her eyes widened, and before she could do anything to defend herself, the dragons slammed into her, shredding her right sleeve and sending her spinning back through the air.
For some reason, Sunan’s heart trembled when that happened. He hadn’t actually expected her to be hit so easily by Rebuke of the Dragon. Even novice disciples in the Golden Dragon Sect were trained in how to identify and counter moves like that.
Then she slammed down on the ground in a cloud of dust, and Sunan’s heart thumped even harder. He was quite sure that a single Rebuke of the Dragon could kill men much taller and stronger than this Chieftainess Bao. He didn’t want to leave her with a bruise, let alone kill her. Especially not for a rock that fell out of the sky.
How did things escalate so quickly?
As Sunan took a nervous step forward toward Bao, his heart trembled again, and this time it wasn’t for fear of having hurt her.
It was because he saw her lifting her head up. A smile broke out across her face as she realized that she had landed directly in front of the fallen star.
Her eyes rose up to meet his, and they glittered with a mischievous arrogance as she slowly reached out to grab the rock.
Dammit!
Cursing inwardly, Sunan lunged forward, but it was too late. Bao’s hands closed over the silver rock, and she struggled to her feet.